The bill would establish penalties for the dissemination of private, sexually explicit images with the intention of harassing, threatening or coercing the person depicted.

Advocates for the bill called it a commonsense measure against predators.

A woman who testified before the committee, who asked that she be identified as "Gloria," said that her life became a living hell after her ex-husband threatened her with sexually explicit pictures.

"To this day, I don't know where those images have ended up or whose hands they've gotten into," she said. "It's something I have to live with every day of my life."

A police officer testified that victims will often try to file a complaint, only to be told that it's not against the law.

"The person that has those images has control, and if they're using that to maintain that control, to destroy somebody, this will take care of that," Detective Sgt. Paul Thompson said. "This will allow us to stop that."

Some on the committee questioned whether the bill could face constitutional problems if it infringed on First Amendment rights, but they were told the bill walks a fine line between protecting those rights and protecting victims.